


Febrility

by WitchoftheWaste



Category: Captive Prince - C. S. Pacat
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon Universe, Drabble, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Post-Canon, Sickfic, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, basically just Laurent is sick and Damen looks after him, you will get a cavity because that is how cute they are
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 10:38:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 839
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9319997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WitchoftheWaste/pseuds/WitchoftheWaste
Summary: Laurent wakes up with a fever. He thinks he should go about his kingly duties as normal, but Damen has other ideas.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Apparently when I get sick I decide to write sickfic. I didn't have Damen looking after me, but my friends were pretty awesome too. As always this is unbeta'd and it's not particularly proofread either, because I'm ill (which is the best excuse ever), so sorry if there are any mistakes. I also have two essays to write and I'm doing this instead, which says a lot about me.
> 
> febrility - noun. a rise in the temperature of the body; frequently a symptom of infection.

'No. Stop right there. You are not leaving that bed. And you are certainly not going to go out there and make yourself sicker by verbally flaying every ambassador in the great hall.' Damen stood next to the bed. The sheets were a rumpled mess, but Damen was far more concerned with Laurent. He had woken to the sound of Laurent's teeth chattering, but Laurent's skin had felt like it was on fire. He wasn't going anywhere today.

'Ah, you worked out my evil plan. I actually want to do my job. ' Laurent's voice sounded hoarse. Damen wanted to call for a hot drink with honey and lemon, but he needed to win this argument first.

'No matter what you might think, reducing grown men to shattered wrecks is not your job. Particularly not _when you're sick._ ' Damen folded his arms.

Laurent shrugged. 'That's debatable.' He started to rise, but Damen could see he was shivering, his arms shaking from the minimal effort of trying to push himself up.

'Everything is debatable with you and _would you stay in the damn bed!'_ Damen wanted to push him back down, to make him take care of himself, but he resisted the urge. That would only make things worse right now. 

'Oh, is this a new fantasy?' Laurent's voice was cool, even if his face was flushed and feverish. 'Keep me in bed all day? Just by ordering me?' Despite his words, he was sitting back down. Damen could deal with him like this as long he wasn't pushing himself, as long as he was at least resting physically. 

Damen just laughed. Of course, _of course,_ illness would make him like this. 'I think you'll survive my wild fantasy of looking after you while you're sick. It mostly involves blankets, handkerchiefs and hot drinks.'

Laurent's back was still ramrod straight. He wasn't lying down. He wasn't even leaning against the pillows. Wretched man, Damen thought with absurd fondness. 

'You're sick. You need to rest.' He stated it as simply as he saw it. 

'I'm not sick.'

Laurent was overtaken by a long coughing fit, which he muffled in the sleeve of his shirt. It was the only thing he was wearing, and Damen could see the fever had tinged the tops of his thighs pink too. Again, Damen wanted to reach for him, to hug him, to take care of him. Instead, when Laurent was done, he handed him a cup of water. Laurent didn't refuse it, but he glared at him over the rim of the cup.

'Don't say a word.' 

Damen smiled, and then smiled even more when Laurent's face softened and he finally, finally slumped back against the pillows. 

'I can't afford to miss anything,' he said, his voice already resigned. 

'I'll have a servant make notes on all the council meetings and bring them to you. But you should only go over them when you're better.' This was easier than persuading Laurent not to work. That would have been impossible. 

'They wouldn't write down anything worthwhile anyway,' Laurent mumbled, perhaps a tad petulantly. 

Damen felt an indulgent laugh tickling the back of his throat. Instead of releasing it, he sat down on the bed next to Laurent. 'Can I hug you?' He kept his voice quiet, just for the two of them.

'You'll catch my cold,' Laurent said, but he leant forward into Damen's arms anyway, burying his head in Damen's shoulder. This close, Damen could feel how hot Laurent was with fever, how many little shivers still wracked his body. Damen experienced an absurd wave of anger at something as small as a virus for making Laurent feel like this. But he was sitting down and Damen was holding him and that was all that really mattered. _You had to take a great deal of pleasure in small victories._

They stayed like that for what felt like hours, although it was probably only minutes. Eventually, Laurent let go and Damen tried to rise. 'I'll send for a hot drink and -'

'No.' Laurent held on to him.

Damen looked down at his feverish face. He saw the tenseness around Laurent's eyes, standing out large and blue against the flush of his fever, and he knew that he didn't even need to ask, that Laurent didn't even need to say it out loud. 'All right. I'll stay.' 

'Thank you.' It was so quiet Damen almost wondered if he had imagined it. A moment later Laurent was saying, 'Don't worry. They'll come looking for us eventually. Then you can ask for as many blankets as you like.'

Damen smiled, running a gentle hand through Laurent's hair. How could he have all of this? He had gone from so much, to so little, to even more. How could he be so fortunate? 

Laurent sneezed. Then sniffed. Then coughed.

Damen tried to hide a fond smile. He had never seen this side of Laurent before.

Laurent buried his head in the sheets. 'Shut up. I can hear you smiling, you fool.'

**Author's Note:**

> For those of you nerdy book fans who are wondering why Damen thought, 'You had to take a great deal of pleasure in small victories' as opposed to the more famous, 'You had to take pleasure in small victories', it's because Damen only ever heard Laurent say the former in Prince's Gambit. Laurent thinks the latter, shorter version in Kings Rising, so Damen wouldn't know to quote that particular phrase of Laurent's in his head like the sap he undoubtedly is.
> 
> Anyway! You probably did not care about that explanation, so now comes the time for me to beg for kudos and comments. I'm sick, man. Come on. Give me some love.


End file.
